More than 20 years ago, our founder, Richard G. Newman, and a handful of ashland Inc. employees shared a dream of creating an industry-leading firm dedicated to making the world a better place. On April 6, 1990, AECOM evolved to become an independent firm formed by the merger of five Ashland entities. While our official founding was in 1990, some of our predecessor firms had distinguished histories dating back to the early 1900s.